Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), once utilized solely in military applications, are becoming more ubiquitous in everyday life. Although a variety of names have been used to describe these systems and devices, such as remotely piloted aircraft, unmanned aircraft, or drone, the common characteristic between each is that no pilot is present within the aircraft. Rather, they are controlled either autonomously by onboard computers or by the remote control of a pilot on the ground or in another vehicle.
One of the concerns with the proliferation of UAVs, however, is how to prevent operation of UAVs within restricted areas. Currently, UAV pilots are required to make themselves aware of airspace restrictions and monitor the location of the UAV to prevent operation within restricted areas. However, this is an error-prone process, and one that requires the pilot to be aware of airspace restrictions.
It would therefore be beneficial to develop a system that provides collision avoidance for UAVs without requiring the addition of on-board collision avoidance sensors.